Waldrup sues APD after suspension

ALTON — The case of the city’s police captain, who is suing Alton to either be reinstated to active duty or, at minimum, to receive pay during his suspension, now is in federal court.

“They based their claim on federal law, and federal courts are the best arbitrator of federal law,” said attorney Stephanie Jones, of the O’Fallon, Ill., office of Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick & Kohn — the city’s labor attorneys, who requested the move. Their main office is in Arlington Heights.

As a result, 3rd Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder canceled a hearing scheduled for Wednesday on the matter.

The switch to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on Monday followed the filing Friday of Capt. Scott Waldrup’s complaint for writ of mandamus, a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in Third Circuit Court in Edwardsville.

Associate Judge Ben Beyers had signed the temporary restraining order against the city of Alton “not to stop paying plaintiff’s (Waldrup)” salary until 5 p.m. Thursday Feb. 26.

“I am disappointed with the disingenuous claims made by Capt. Waldrup and his attorney throughout this process,” Police Chief Jason “Jake” Simmons said. “Because this is a personnel matter, I cannot comment as completely as I would like, but an official response to this temporary restraining order will be made through the proper legal channels.”

Thursday, Simmons had an officer deliver a letter to Waldrup informing him he was suspending the captain without pay as of midnight Feb. 20, as a hearing date on charges against the captain still had not been set. According to a city official who responded to a Telegraph reporter’s Freedom of Information Act request, Waldrup’s 2014-15 base salary is $97,067.55.

Waldrup has been employed at the Alton Police Department since 1988.

Simmons’ action followed a Civil Service Commission meeting Feb. 18 at which the panel agreed to appoint a hearing officer, an arbitrator, to collect evidence, hear and rule on Waldrup’s suspension. His attorney, Lee Barron of Alton, had requested using a neutral, outside person to hear the captain’s case. That larger, overall case would take months to proceed and conclude, both sides have said.

At that meeting, the CSC also upheld an unrelated, two-day suspension against Waldrup for working overtime on roadside safety checks without permission from Simmons, which Waldrup had appealed.

Barron said he would seek another restraining order to resume Waldrup’s pay. His Feb. 20 filing in state court says not being paid would create a hardship for the captain and his family. “(He) is the primary source of support for his family of four,” it says. “Capt. Waldrup and his family will suffer irreparable harm absent the issuance of a temporary restraining order preserving his monthly income. Capt. Waldrup has a mortgage, utilities and food to pay for and requires income to support himself and his family.”

The complaint also asks for a judge to order Simmons and the city to “refrain from taking any further or additional retaliatory action” against the captain; and that the orders remain in place until the case is over.

One of the exhibits attached to Waldrup’s complaint is a synopsis of the report on the internal affairs investigation conducted by Lt. Al Adams. It alleges a lack of communication within the department at times, including use or non-use of the Guardian Tracking System that should have revealed actions of the former evidence officer Pfc. Jonathan Forrler and supervisors.

Forrler, who resigned, is facing a Grand Jury indictment of official misconduct, a Class 3 felony.

The synopsis says Simmons had not logged onto the system in 327 days, but did receive email alerts when entries were made on direct subordinates. It says detectives believed he was getting the entries regarding multiple incidents of Forrler improperly disposing or incorrectly tracking evidence, and actions they took as a result.

Jones, though, said if Simmons had access to all the messages between officers, “he would get 500 to 600 a month. Guardian Tracking is pretty expansive to track lots of things.”

She also said Simmons does not agree with the investigation findings, included in the complaint, that says charges of misconduct and violation of supervision responsibility against Waldrup are not sustained; and the poor job performance charge is unfounded.

Prior to her telephone interview with The Telegraph, Jones issued a statement in behalf of the city that says, in part:

“A portion of the (Feb. 20) complaint requests a Writ of Mandamus from the court to reinstate Capt. Waldrup to his position because the Civil Service Commission has not yet held a hearing. This portion of the complaint is disingenuous at best. The delay in the Civil Service proceedings is the result of Capt. Waldrup’s own requests, not the City’s actions.

“The remainder of the complaint requests a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to stop the city from converting the captain’s paid suspension to an unpaid suspension. The captain claims that the unpaid suspension violates his rights under federal and state law. Capt. Waldrup’s attorney did not make an effort to notify the City of Alton of his request for restraining order ahead of time,” Jones said.

“He has an obligation to do that and the city is outraged that he ignored that obligation. Had we received notice, we would have appeared before the judge on Friday and provided ample justification for the judge to deny issuance of the temporary restraining order. In any event, the complaint is replete with false information and fails to meet the legal standards of a preliminary injunction going forward.

“We believe that Capt. Waldrup and his attorney filed this lawsuit as an attempt to circumvent the Civil Service process,” Jones said. “It is not the practice of the city to give specific comments regarding employee discipline matters while they are pending. However, I will say that the information in the complaint mischaracterizes the facts of Capt. Waldrup’s case, at best, and in some regards contains outright untruths. The City is committed to providing the community with a police force that the community can trust. The City is confident in the merits of its position.”